Thomas Murphy
No. 11 UC San Diego women’s water polo (14-13, 3-3 Big West) fell 12-7 to the No. 3 Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (17-3, 6-0 Big West) at Canyonview Aquatic Center on Thursday night, April 10. Redshirt senior utility player Caroline Christl’s hat trick was not enough for the Tritons to overcome a lackluster first quarter. The Rainbow Wahine — undefeated in the Big West — have not lost since Feb. 22. Meanwhile, UCSD remains in fourth place in the conference standings.
Head coach Brad Kreutzkamp discussed his team’s performance in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian.
“This is two games in a row we’ve started off slow, going down and giving up six goals in the first quarter,” Kreutzkamp said. “We play even the rest of the way, we just can’t keep coming out this slow. I don’t know what it is; it’s kind of frustrating as a coach to get your team motivated to come out fresh and ready to go, but it’s hurting us and it’s costing us games.”
Hawai’i’s offensive onslaught began immediately. The Rainbow Wahine scored on their first two possessions of the game, setting the tone for an explosive first quarter. Midway through the period, Christl slotted home a penalty shot to make it 2-1. However, the Rainbow Wahine’s physical offensive style flummoxed UCSD’s interior defense, leading to easy conversions from close range.
By the time freshman utility player Holly Roberts notched the Tritons’ second goal of the game — a fastball that caromed off of the crossbar and into the net — her team found itself down 5-2. A sixth Hawai’i shot beat Triton senior goalkeeper Lexi Stahl with 21 seconds remaining in the opening period; leading by four goals, the Rainbow Wahine held an immense advantage after the first quarter.
UCSD opened the scoring in the second quarter, giving fans in attendance a fleeting moment of hope. After senior attacker Courtney Okumura won the sprint, Christl scored her second penalty of the game with a skipped shot into the bottom right corner. Yet, a Rainbow Wahine goal on the ensuing possession ended any notion of a comeback, and Hawai’i maintained at least a four-goal lead for the remainder of the game. Christl’s third goal — a well-worked power-play conversion from the wing — was the final point tallied in the half, which ended 8-4.
The Tritons’ struggles continued after the break. Despite several excellent saves by Stahl early in the second half, Hawai’i ultimately scored twice in the third quarter. With two seconds left in the period, sophomore utility player Abigail Schechter found the roof of the net to end UCSD’s goal drought. After the buzzer, however, the Tritons faced a 10-5 deficit.
The fourth quarter was a familiar story for UCSD. Plagued by fouls and misplaced passes, the Tritons conceded twice early in the frame, increasing Hawai’i’s lead to seven. Late goals by Schechter — the third Triton penalty of the game — and senior attacker Kenzie Larson were little consolation in the 12-7 loss.
UCSD has now lost eight games in a row to the Rainbow Wahine, with a combined score of 116-68. This includes postseason defeats against Hawai’i in 2022 and 2024, both in the semifinals of the Big West Championship.
With only two regular season games left to play, Kreutzkamp shared his message to the team after Thursday’s defeat.
“We’ve got to forget this one and play our best ball next week,” Kreutzkamp said. “Every one of these teams [in the Big West] can beat us, and we have to start peaking now for our conference championship games. UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State afford us really good opportunities to do that.”
Kreutzkamp’s team will face the Gauchos on Friday, April 18, then will host the Aztecs for Senior Day on Saturday, April 19. A pair of home wins would provide a much-needed momentum boost for the Tritons, who will compete in the Big West Championship the following week.
UCSD has fallen in the conference semifinals for four consecutive seasons. A postseason run, while unlikely, would secure the Tritons’ first NCAA Championship appearance since 2019.